Wheat Farmers Could Lose $1 Billion a Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn (RFDTV) – On Monday, the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) unveiled the results of an econometric study. According to the report, excessive farm support in several advanced developing countries could cost U.S. wheat farmers nearly $1 billion in revenue every year.

RFD-TV News spoke with Brett Blankenship, the President of the National Association of Wheat Growers to find out more. “Some of these support programs distort the domestic markets so bad that it encourages production at home, thereby costing the United States export opportunities, as well as artificially increases the price in those countries,” said Blankenship.

Researchers centered their efforts on the impact of Brazilian, Chinese, Indian and Turkish Wheat Support polices and how those will affect the US wheat growers.

“What it means for the industry,” said Blankeship, “is lost export opportunities to the United States. And in the US 50 % of our crop is exported so the cumulative damage done is at least 10% of our export opportunities.”

According to the USW, China, India, Turkey and Brazil have dramatically increased subsidies for domestic wheat production over the past decade, reaching levels that exceed their World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. The wheat organizations are working with the US Trade Representative’s office and the US Department of Agriculture to determine the next steps which could include a possible WTO challenge.